Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), an electric scooter maker and a battery swapping system provider, yesterday said it targets to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq via a merger with the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Poema Global Holdings Corp in the first quarter next year.
The combination would set Gogoro’s enterprise value at US$2.35 billion, more than doubling the US$1 billion value that defines a “unicorn.”
The planned merger is also expected to provide proceeds of about US$550 million to Gogoro’s balance sheet, including an oversubscribed private investment in public equity (PIPE) of more than US$250 million and a trust of US$345 million held by Poema Global, Gogoro said.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
“Gogoro is a global company based in Taiwan ... From day one, we were looking to establish a global platform,” Gogoro founder and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) told a media briefing in Taipei when asked why the company is seeking to list on a US exchange rather than a local market.
“NASDAQ was always the target,” Luke said. “Apple [Inc], Intel [Corp], Tesla [Inc] and Amazon [.com Inc] all listed on NASDAQ. ”
The PIPE is backed by strategic investors, automobile partners and existing financial investors, the company said.
Gogoro’s strategic investors include two new investors: Taiwan’s Hon Hai Technology Group (鴻海科技集團) and the GoTo Group, the largest technology group in Indonesia, it said.
The company’s other investors include Taiwan’s National Development Fund, former US vice president and environmentalist Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management LLP, Temasek Holdings Pte of Singapore, and founding investor, Samuel Yin (尹衍樑) of Ruentex Group (潤泰集團).
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) said that it invested US$20 million in Gogoro, giving Hon Hai a 0.76 percent stake, a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed.
The investment would help the company further its expansion into the electric vehicle and new energy fields, Gogoro said.
The proceeds of the IPO would allow Gogoro to expand its footprint overseas, duplicating its success in the home market, it added.
Gogoro aims to introduce its electric battery swapping services in China’s Hangzhou and Wuxi cities next quarter, leveraging its partners’ market strength, it said, adding that it plans to add five or six cities to its Chinese footprint next year.
Gogoro’s Chinese partners, Yadea Technology Group Co (雅迪科技集團) and Jiangmen Dachangjiang Group Co (DCJ, 大江集團), operate a total of more than 50,000 outlets in China, which would be ideal locations for Gogoro’s battery swapping stations, Luke said.
Gogoro plans to expand its reach into New Delhi in the second half of next year by teaming up with Hero MotoCorp Ltd, India’s biggest motorcycle maker, Luke said.
Hero operates about 7,000 retail stores, which are also potential locations for Gogoro’s electric battery swapping service, he said.
Gogoro said that its battery swapping ecosystem is an established leading solution for electric refueling of lightweight urban vehicles.
In less than five years, the company has accumulated more than US$1 billion in revenue and 400,000 battery swap subscribers.
Gogoro said that it has yet to make a profit, but that it has posted healthy earnings before an interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin of 55 percent, which might climb to 60 percent.
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